Warner Bros.' decision to shelve Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Batgirl movie over three years ago was the shot heard around the world of cinema. The choice ignited a backlash from fans that has so far gone ignored — but one person involved in the film thinks there might be some potential for it to be released one day.
"I got the chance to watch it, and it was a phenomenal film,” Jacob Scipio, one of the film’s stars, told The Direct in a new interview. “Man, I'm really sad the world never got to see it. But you know, you never know. You never know.”
He also noted the story of Warner Bros, film Coyote vs. Acme gives him some hope. "It was great that they saved [Coyote vs. Acme], I'm gonna have a ticket and be buying my ticket and seeing that movie myself. So there's always hope,” Scipio told the outlet. “Hollywood's a funny place, and I think if enough people want it, it can happen."
In 2022, Warner Bros. shelved the Batgirl film as a tax write-off, despite the fact it was nearly finished when the decision was made. The cost-cutting measure not only sparked a backlash with fans but the gutted reactions from El Arbi, Fallah, and star Leslie Grace. DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran went on to claim in 2023 that the movie “was not releasable” and “would have hurt DC.”
But Warner Bros did it again with the well-tested and highly anticipated Coyote vs. Acme in 2023, despite it being finished as well. That backlash was even more intense than Batgirl’s, and over a year later it was saved from never seeing the light of day by Ketchup Entertainment, which acquired the movie after a long period of deal-making with Warner Bros. It is set to finally premiere in theaters August 28, 2026.
Hopefully Batgirl will follow in its footsteps someday soon.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
When contemplating the essence of a lighthouse (as one so often does), you might think of words like stoic, isolated, or purposeful. But have you ever thought of them as adorable, quirky, or perhaps even charming? Keeper, the atmospheric puzzle platformer from developer Double Fine, cleverly reimagines the often forgotten seaboard structure, reframing it as a lovably sentient scout on a journey through a living world. Blending a kaleidoscopic art style with nostalgic adventure game mechanics, Keeper hides an emotional story underneath all of its visual pizzazz, delivering a brain-tickling odyssey that’s stuck with me far beyond the credits.
After being separated from its flock while evading a flood of evil batlike creatures, a seabird named Twig is drawn towards a dormant lighthouse that sits on the outskirts of a mythic island. Stagnant and alone, the unexpected visitor awakens the slumbering lighthouse, causing it to shoot out a beam of warming light and scare away the evil swarm. Keeper’s story is built around the soul-stirring relationship that evolves between this unlikely duo as they fight the island’s eerie infection, navigate its curious biomes, and attempt to climb its possessed, claw-like peak. Despite there not being a single line of dialogue across Keeper’s approximately six-hour run time, I found myself wholly invested in their plight – a testament to how dynamic the pair felt in motion.
It also helps that Keeper is one of the most visually interesting games I’ve ever played. The island's topology is wavy and confusing like an ant farm, with the towering summit somehow sitting at the edge of most frames, teasing you with its proximity. Every nook and cranny of its surreal, painterly world hides vast wells of depth with craggy coral, forgotten cave structures, and vibrant twisting vines intersecting like details in a Where’s Wally book. The use of fixed camera angles in Keeper is particularly inspired and evokes a cinematic atmosphere once cultivated by games like Grim Fandango and Silent Hill.
Keeper doesn’t explicitly explain the lore behind its mythical, post-apocalyptic setting, instead relying on visual clues like crumpled houses and rewilded cityscapes to create a sense of danger and scale. It’s helpful that the environments you saunter through blend seamlessly together, too, with a change in the orchestration and colour palette alerting you to a new area or checkpoint more often than a loading screen. This HUD-less approach better allows you to lose yourself in Keeper’s spectacular landscapes, increasing your investment in the twosome and encouraging you to play around with your powers and discover tidbits of lore littered throughout.
The HUD-less approach allows you to lose yourself in spectacular landscapes.
Speaking of interacting with the world, your lighthouse powers are relatively limited but smartly utilized. You have the ability to shoot beams of light and run through obstacles to knock them down, as well as send your avian mate to pull vines or interact with levers to open doors. At first, the path forward is simple enough and involves using your light to grow vines into bridges or frighten creatures into dropping key items you need to progress. Gradually, though, Keeper increases its challenge, introducing a healthy mixture of logic and platforming puzzles that require you to weave a few interactions together in order to progress. One such puzzle involved finding and pulling a series of hidden levers to create a path through a rushing waterfall – to sniff out the levers, I needed to bound around the space and use my beam to explode fuzzy brain-like nodes, lower platforms, and grow patches of alien plants.
Not every reaction you can elicit serves a gameplay-specific purpose, though, and you can also wield these powers to impact the Seussian flora and fauna around you, using your light to make trees shift in color or shiver with life. Elsewhere, curious critters react with adorable animations along the edges of paths as you walk by. It can’t be overstated that almost every screenshot of Keeper effortlessly looks like a work of art.
While your base skills remain largely the same throughout the story, the world changes in a way that keeps things fresh. For example, your humble torch can eventually activate strange monuments that twist time forwards and backwards, briefly turning Twig into a ghost that can fly through walls and rotate cogs or an egg that can weigh down pressure plates – who says you can’t teach an old building new tricks?
If this sounds a bit surreal, that’s because it is, but somehow it all makes sense in the context of Keeper’s intriguing world. Admittedly, it helps that each new mechanic is so thoughtfully integrated into both the story and the worldbuilding at large, with Keeper peppering in subtle tutorials through a handful of unmissable interactions at the start of each new area. Similar to Cyan World’s groundbreaking puzzle game Myst, Double Fine masterfully teaches you how to solve the puzzles ahead without overexplaining them, which helps maintain a sense of momentum without leaving you totally untethered from the larger plot.
Jaw-dropping sights are further bolstered by an exquisite soundtrack.
Still, there’s no rush to make it to the top of the mountain. Half the joy of Keeper is in the journey, and there are plenty of jaw-dropping sights to gawk at along the way. Each level is its own microcosm screaming with personality. You’ll visit the ethereal Pollen Fields, which are filled with cotton candy shrubs and cliff faces that look like splodges of paint someone has haphazardly run their hands through, as well as the cleverly named Horologe, a steampunk-esque city that feels architecturally Grecian. These locations are often disorienting, with brush stroke detailing and scratchy textures that reinforce the organic, handmade aesthetic. They are further bolstered by an exquisite soundtrack from composer David Earl, whose twinkling, dreamy arrangements strike a steady balance between calming and eerie, coating the world in a sense of unease.
That’s not all, though, as each area is inhabited by its own creatures, too, which range from towering multi-eyed whales to rocks with legs and narrow cylindrical dragons whose coats look like woven quilts. This smorgasbord of oddities made me feel like a kid at the aquarium, using my lighthouse torch to “tap at the glass” in search of reactions. Even with their uncanny designs, the critters all fit into Keeper’s world as if they evolved there over centuries in order to survive – a theme that bleeds into every corner of this existential story.
The themes at play aren’t overly complex, though understanding them does require you to read between the lines. As a lonely lighthouse, the ideas of evolution and isolation are touched on – but importantly, your interpretation of each conversation-less cutscene or puzzle will surely be influenced by your own experiences in a way that feels intentional. For me, Keeper came across as an exploration of friendship, adaptation, and the inimitable power of self-belief in a world that is struggling to cope under an oppressive force. Maybe it will mean something different to you. While I was occasionally left longing for more concrete answers to its questions, similar to the process of staring at a painting, this tale leaves the door open for you to find meaning in both the artist's intentions as well as your own.
I’ve always considered Double Fine the Willy Wonka of game developers, and Keeper feels like a prime example of why. It walks and talks like a fairly digestible adventure game, but there’s also a sense of experimentation and whimsy that makes it hard to put into any one box. Caught somewhere between the ‘Three Course Dinner Chewing Gum’ and a Ratatouille flashback, Keeper flooded my senses, leaving me open to contemplate its world as a standalone creation as well as a mirror of my own.
Look out below! Team Meat's sadistic meat mascot is finally leaping into the third dimension with Super Meat Boy 3D, scheduled for early 2026 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. It's a bold step forward for a series that originally started its life as a Flash-based sidescroller on Newgrounds, translating the blood-soaked precision platforming that defined the original 2010 cult classic into a fully three-dimensional space. Based on our hands-on time with the newest preview build, we can confidently say this isn't just the same old Super Meat Boy. Instead, it’s shaping up to be a thoughtful reimagining that captures the essence of what makes the series beloved while embracing new possibilities that only 3D can offer.
For those unfamiliar with the series, Super Meat Boy is a high-speed platformer that follows the adventures of a skinless protagonist attempting to rescue his girlfriend – Bandage Girl – from the villainous Dr. Fetus… a literal fetus in a jar with a perpetual grudge. Unlike the original game and its 2020 sequel, both of which are legendary for their punishing difficulty and death-defying speed, Super Meat Boy 3D feels less unfairly brutal and more chill while retaining some of the harder challenges for those who want to reclaim the series' hardcore platforming roots in 3D.
The preview build on Steam opens with an eye-catching menu, and the interface is both immediately functional and slick-looking. One quick tap of the A button on your controller and you’re thrust into the action within seconds – but, if you linger in the main menu a bit longer, you may find yourself wandering into the robust settings menu, which reveals decently comprehensive accessibility options and good flexibility in the graphics department as well. It’s cool to see options to toggle on a ground distance helper, for instance, which projects where you'll land when airborne. There's also a replay character slider that determines how many ghostly versions of Meat Boy appear in the post-level replays, watching your recorded run play back alongside multiple failed attempts in swarms of up to 100 little guys.
The controls translate Super Meat Boy's responsive movement into 3D with surprising grace.
The controls translate Super Meat Boy's responsive movement into 3D with surprising grace. On an Xbox controller, jumping, sprinting, wall-running, and dashing all feel snappy and precise. Meat Boy does have a slightly floaty quality in midair that took a few untimely deaths to get the hang of, but a midair dash ability (default mapped to X) allows you to correct trajectory mistakes on the fly – a crucial addition given the added complexity of navigating 3D space. Wall-running and wall-jumping work similarly to the original's wall-slides, letting you bounce between vertical surfaces to reach higher platforms. Interestingly, the preview build lacks the punch ability mentioned in the control scheme and features no combat whatsoever, leaving us curious whether enemy encounters will play any role in the final release or if this remains a pure obstacle-course platformer.
A Bloody Good Time
The level design effectively utilizes verticality in ways its 2D predecessors couldn't, with multi-tiered structures that had us jumping upward off walls, dashing across gaps, and ground-slamming down vertical shafts to avoid descending spike balls. The ground slam (mapped to B) proved more useful than we initially expected, letting us rapidly descend to dodge hazards that dropped from above. Environmental obstacles include classic platformer staples, like buzz saws, bear traps, crumbling platforms, and industrial crushers – alongside new physics-based challenges like the aforementioned spike balls, which drop into peculiarly-located chutes that require you first to bypass other obstacles and then properly time your descent to survive.
True to series tradition, death comes frequently and gruesomely. As one might expect, Super Meat Boy 3D’s cube of exposed muscle tissue is prone to meeting countless splattery ends, immediately respawning him at the level start with the timer reset. The blood trail Meat Boy leaves on every surface he touches paints increasingly macabre patterns across the pastel environments with each attempt, and it's darkly comical watching pristine grassy fields transform into crime scenes. The sound design enhances this with squelchy, splattery audio that recalls Splatoon's ink-based aesthetic, while environmental sounds like the whir of saw blades and the mechanical grinding of crushers create an appropriately cartoony yet threatening audio landscape.
Film Study
Performance is measured purely by completion time and death count, with letter grades awarded based on how quickly you reach each level's exit. An A+ rank requires finishing under a target time with zero deaths, which is a tall order that demands memorization and flawless execution. There's no score system, no collectible currency, just you versus the clock and your own mortality. We did discover hidden collectible band-aids tucked into secret areas behind destructible wooden walls, though their purpose remains unclear in the preview build. Whether they unlock content, costumes, or bonus levels in the full game is anyone's guess.
Speaking of post-game content, the post-level replay system deserves special mention as one of the preview's most entertaining features. After completing a stage, you watch your successful run play back while multiple ghost versions of Meat Boy attempt the same route, most meeting horrible deaths before one mirror-image completes the course following your exact path. It's simultaneously satisfying and hilarious, transforming your hard-earned victories into miniature spectacles of failure. The max replay characters setting lets you crank this up, filling the screen with doomed meat cubes.
Who’s the Boss?
What's less clear is the scope of the full release. The preview build contained no boss fights (though a cutscene showed what appeared to be a giant robot), no multiplayer options, and a theater mode that remained inaccessible. The narrative setup – Dr. Fetus once again kidnapping someone dear to Meat Boy, this time appearing to be Bandage Girl based on her pink coloring – suggests we're returning to familiar story beats, though the series has never prioritized plot, and from what I’ve seen so far, that trend isn’t set to change with its first 3D outing. The linear level structure and lack of significant exploration or secret-hunting may disappoint players expecting more Metroidvania-style progression, though this has always been Super Meat Boy's MO: pure, distilled platforming challenge without excessive baggage.
Super Meat Boy 3D’s decently challenging and often enjoyable gameplay loop settles into a zen-like flow state once you accept the trial-and-error nature of mastery in its colorful world. This is very much a "podcast game" – something you can successfully zone out to while listening to something else, and by the fifth run through the preview build, we couldn’t help but think about how strong a fit it’ll be for Steam Deck owners who like to sneak in play sessions before bed. That's not necessarily criticism; there's value in games that don't demand your complete emotional investment, and this is undeniably one of those games. It’s just a shame that there’s no Switch 2 version currently announced. Half-joking!
Nuts and Bolts
The difficulty, while present, didn’t reach the soul-crushing heights the series is notorious for, at least in these early stages, but that’s not such a bad thing to bring in a broader playerbase – as long as the final version still provides ample challenge to series fans. Whether that manifests in later worlds or if Team Meat has softened the challenge for broader appeal remains to be seen, but I’m hoping it's the former.
Graphically, Super Meat Boy 3D strikes a pleasing balance between the series' cartoonish aesthetic and modern rendering techniques for an increasingly atmospheric experience as the levels progress. The preview build already teases robust graphics options, including a nice list of anti-aliasing methods, post-processing effects, shadow quality, global illumination, reflections, and foliage density. While DLSS remained grayed out in my build, the game ran silky smooth at near-144fps on an RTX 4070Ti, with excellent optimization even at maximum settings on an ultrawide 3440x1440 display. The environments pop with visual personality: grassy starting areas give way to burning forests with spinning saw blades embedded in charred trees, which then transition into grimy industrial zones filled with crushers, spike-dropping machines, and pools of toxic waste. Everything maintains that high-contrast, storybook-meets-nightmare quality that defined the original, but with added geometric complexity and environmental detail that wouldn't be possible in 2D.
Bring the Pain
Comparisons to other modern 3D platformers are inevitable, but may be a bit unfair to the scope that Super Meat Boy 3D is tackling. What we’ve played so far lacks Astro Bot's inventively kinetic mechanics and character-driven charm, Mario Odyssey's exploratory freedom, or even Crash Bandicoot 4's level design variety. Instead, Super Meat Boy 3D feels more akin to Ghost Runner's fast-paced, die-and-retry philosophy mixed with the geometric verticality and graphical style of Pac-Man World II – and then just heavily distilled from there, down to something much smaller and tighter, like a little cube of tightly-packaged meat in a convenience store freezer. There are no rings or coins to collect here: just brutal platforming, and this reinvention does it smoothly enough to feel satisfying even after several back-to-back runs of the same preview content.
Your skills will improve with each run, hitting more A+ ranks as your muscle memory develops. At least that addictive "just one more try" quality that defined the original is totally present here. The question is whether Team Meat can sustain that momentum across a full game, and whether enough content, variety, and surprises await in the final release to justify the journey into 3D.
Super Meat Boy 3D shows promise as a faithful translation of the series' darker cartoon comedy appeal into three dimensions, with responsive controls, strong performance, and level design that embraces verticality while maintaining the tight challenge loops that made the original special. But, at least at this point in its development cycle, significant questions remain about the scope of its content upon release, how well its combat will feel in action, what those hidden collectibles unlock, and if this tight-knit formula can stay fresh throughout a complete game.
Star Trek fans finally look set to discover what happened to Deep Space Nine captain Benjamin Sisko — a mystery left unanswered for more than 25 years.
Deep Space Nine's series finale saw Sisko sacrifice his physical form but seemingly live on as a spiritual entity within a wormhole (it's a long story). While the DS9 crew are left unsure exactly what's happened, Sisko reappears to his newly-pregnant wife in a vision and promises he'll eventually return to his family... someday.
And with that, Deep Space Nine ended. But did Sisko ever return? Was his family ever reunited? Or was Sisko simply suggesting he'll see his family again when they too leave their physical forms behind? Questions around Sisko's fate have long since lingered, and were rekindled in surprising fashion earlier this year when an initial Star Trek: Starfleet Academy teaser trailer suggested answers were on the way.
In the teaser, we see Star Trek: Starfleet Academy character Sam, played by Kerrice Brooks, examining a display titled 'The Fate of Benjamin Sisko'. "Confronting the unexplainable," the display reads. "The fate of Benjamin Sisko, Emissary of the Prophets. Captain Sisko's fate: Did he die in the Fire Caves of Bajor? Did he live on in the Celestial Temple?"
Now, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy showrunner Noga Landau has addressed the tease, and suggested that long-term Trekkies would soon have their patience rewarded.
"I think we've honored everything that's come before us, the 60 years of legacy that came before us in so many different ways," Landau told Screenrant. "One is with the people we've brought to join these amazing folks. We have Robert Picardo, who's playing The Doctor, the same Doctor from Voyager. We have multiple cast members joining us from Discovery. And you know, when you look at the wall of heroes in our atrium, our giant set, you'll see us honoring so many of the people who came before us, who showed us what heroism is, and who showed us what the values of Starfleet are.
"And there's also mysteries," Landau continued. "Watch out for Benjamin Sisko! We get to do some really cool stuff that hasn't been done in a long time, that I think really honors the fans who've been waiting to see what happens. So we definitely know who we are and the shoulders that we are standing on today."
Could Benjamin Sisko finally be ready to leave his wormhole? It's worth remembering, of course, that Starfleet Academy is set in the 32nd century, the same time period featured in later seasons of Star Trek: Discovery that's 700 years after the events of Deep Space Nine. Of course, Sisko could have been hanging out as a disembodied entity all that time, but it would seem to rule out any reunion with his human family.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is expected to debut in early 2026, which is the 60th anniversary of the original series. What better time to finally answer one of the franchise's lingering questions, and pay homage to one of its best captains?
Image credit: CBS via Getty Images
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
One of last year’s most highly anticipated action titles, Stellar Blade, has seen a price cut at Amazon.
The game has landed within 2 cents of its previous lowest price at the retailer, bringing the character action title from Shift Up down to $49.99 from its $69.99 MSRP - a drop of 28%.
Save On Stellar Blade at Amazon Right Now
Stellar Blade puts players in the shoes of EVE, tasked with saving humanity from the Naytiba through fast, flashy combat that constantly evolves as she levels up and faces ever more challenging foes.
It looks incredible, too, whether you’re on a base PlayStation 5 or the PlayStation 5 Pro, with lightning-fast loading times.
The game previously dropped to around $50 around Black Friday 2024, but it’s worth noting that with another Holiday season on the horizon, there’s every chance it could drop further.
Our reviewer Mitchell Saltzman gave the game 7 out of 10 in his review, saying “Stellar Blade is great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics prevent it from soaring along with the best of the genre.”
A sequel, unsurprisingly titled Stellar Blade 2, is in development and slated to arrive before 2027.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
October is an excellent time to watch spooky movies or shows in the lead-up to Halloween, whether you're someone who enjoys putting on a good ol' fashioned horror movie or if you prefer something a little lighter for the season. If you fall into the latter category, it doesn't get much better than the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown special, and right now its 4K release has received a massive discount at Amazon (see here).
If you're hoping to add this classic to your physical media collection, it's currently marked down to $11.99, 60% off its list price of $29.98. No better time than now to grab it before we hit Halloween in a couple weeks.
Save on It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 4K at Amazon
Alongside coming with a 4K, Blu-ray, and digital copy of the special, this release also comes with two bonus Peanuts TV specials. If you're a fan, it's a real treat to add to your library of physical media.
Outside of this special, we've got our eyes set on a few more deals worth picking up before Halloween. If you're looking for some seasonally-appropriate games to play this month, check out our breakdown of select spooky games that are on sale right now at Amazon. These range from Silent Hill 2, for those in the mood for a good scare, to Luigi's Mansion 3 if you'd rather not have too many frights.
Amazon's even offering some great discounts at the moment on Halloween candy. Whether you're looking to pick up a massive bag for trick-or-treaters this year, or something smaller that you can snack on by yourself, there's quite a few options to choose from. There's plenty of variety with these bags as well, so no matter if you want lots of chocolate or other candies mixed in, you can find a good option.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
The Galaxies Showcase 2025 is nearly here, and it's set to feature more than 50 games, six world premieres, exclusive reveals, demo drops, and so much more. There is a lot to look forward to, and we're here to break down how you can watch the show and what to expect.
IGN will be partnering with Galaxies to carry the stream on our channels, and we recommend sticking around after the show as we'll have our own post-show breakdown of the biggest reveals from the Galaxies Showcase 2025!
How to Watch Galaxies Showcase 2025
You can watch the Galaxies Showcase 2025 (and our post-show after it ends!) on Thursday, October 23, at 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm GMT on the following platforms;
As we mentioned, the Galaxies Showcase, which is being hosted once again by Jane Douglas, will feature more than 50 games, six world premieres, exclusive reveals, demo drop, and much more. While we don't know all the surprises in store for us, we do know the show's partners include NACON, Saber Interactive's 3D Realms label, and Team17. Oh, and Behaviour Interactive will have Twitch Drops as well!
There will be three unannounced title reveals that promise to "define the showcase's biggest surprises," and one is an ambitious open-world survival crafting experience from Unifiq. PlaySide Studios is gearing up to reveal the first Dumb Ways to Die title for PC and console, and the much-anticipated MOUSE: P.I. For Hire will finally be getting its release date.
Team17 will be presenting three new titles from indie developers around the globe, and one will be a world exclusive premiere. We'll also get the release date announcement from Lichthund's Rockbeasts and never-before-seen gameplay footage from Wych Elm's Silver Pines.
NACON will offer up the exclusive first look at gameplay and the release date for Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, Saber Interactive's 3D Realms label will 'bring the heat' with Painkiller's official launch trailer, and Kepler Interactive will have an 'arsenal of announcements' that include an epic new look at Tactical Adventures' Solasta II.
A ton of genres will be on display during the Galaxies Showcase 2025 from a wide array of studios, including Secret Mode, Fireshine Games, Owlcat Games, Noodle Cat Games, Big Fan Games, Crosswind Crew, and more.
While you wait for this edition of the Galaxies Showcase, be sure to check out the first-ever one from earlier this year to get an idea of what you can expect from the new one!
Sony is hoping to start filming of its live-action Horizon Zero Dawn movie in 2026 with a release at some point in 2027, according to a new court document.
In the legal document, PlayStation Productions boss, Asad Qizilbash, said the Horizon Zero Dawn movie now has a working script and Sony is on the hunt for a director. The plan is to start filming next year and release the movie in 2027.
“We are in development for a film based on Horizon in partnership with Columbia Pictures,” Qizilbash said in his declaration. “We already have a working script and are actively searching for a director, with the goal of shooting the picture in 2026 and releasing it in 2027. The live-action film follows the recent collaborations between Columbia Pictures and PlayStation Productions on the 2022 film Uncharted and the 2023 film Gran Turismo.”
Qizilbash also described Horizon protagonist Aloy as a “key icon in the anticipated film” and emphasizes her importance “to the flywheel of franchise building.”
Speaking on-stage at CES, Qizilbash said: "Columbia Pictures and PlayStation Productions are at the early stages of developing a film adaptation of the award-winning Horizon Zero Dawn.
"Just imagine, Aloy's beloved origin story set in a vibrant, far future world filled with the giant machines, brought to you for the first time on the big screen."
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Sony has asked the courts for a preliminary injunction against Light of Motiram maker Tencent to stop the Chinese megacorp from commencing pre-release promotion of the upcoming adventure game, filing its opposition to Tencent's motion to dismiss the high-profile copyright lawsuit.
It comes after Sony accused Tencent of developing a "knock-off game [of Horizon Zero Dawn] so blatant that the public loudly decried the obvious and pervasive copying of Horizon’s protected elements," claiming the release of Light of Motiram "jeopardizes Horizon's continued success, including current expansion plans for the franchise."
Sony claimed Tencent's upcoming game Light of Motiram was nothing more than a "slavish clone" of Horizon Zero Dawn, and filed a copyright lawsuit in a California court at the end of July, outlining numerous similarities and comparing various marketing screenshots from both games, as well as their descriptions. As we explained at the time, just like Horizon, Light of Motiram takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by giant robot dinosaurs who roam large, natural environments such as tropical forests, deserts, and snowy mountains. Both games even feature red-haired women protagonists that wear very similar outfits and styles, and devices similar to Aloy's "Focus" earpiece.
Just days after Sony filed its lawsuit alleging the upcoming game was a "slavish clone" of Horizon, Tencent quietly updated its Light of Motiram Steam page and swapped out a number of screenshots, including its cover image, before responding to Sony's lawsuit by claiming it was only making use of "well-trodden" tropes and suggesting the PlayStation maker's own game was too similar to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.
Tencent then hit back by describing Sony's lawsuit an overreach, highlighting other game franchises with similar elements to Horizon Zero Dawn such as The Legend of Zelda and Far Cry. It was "startling," Tencent said, that Sony was now attempting to claim Horizon's concept was original, rather than an idea based on "ubiquitous genre ingredients."
Now, as reported by The Game Post, Sony has dismissed Tencent's response as "nonsense," insisting "the damage is done – and it continues" and accusing the Chinese company of trying to minimize its involvement by using "shell" entities even though the Chinese firm remains "at the helm."
"The copying was so egregious that numerous journalists and Horizon fans called Light of Motiram 'a major Horizon rip off,' 'an obvious knock off,' a 'copycat' with a main character that 'resembles Aloy to a tee,' and ‘extremely similar to Horizon Zero Dawn'," Sony wrote.
That's not all, though. As spotted by Games Fray, Sony has also filed for a preliminary injunction in a bid to prevent Tencent from using a red-haired character in Light of Motiram, as well as other visuals or storyline elements close to that of the Horizon franchise. It hopes for the injunction to be enacted by the end of the year.
Tencent, however, maintains that with a scheduled release date on Q4 2027, Sony "cannot possibly hope to demonstrate the ‘immediate threatened injury’ that is the prerequisite of a preliminary injunction" given the game is so far from release. It attached declarations from a number of key stakeholders, including Guerrilla's head of music, Lucas van Tol, and artist Jan-Bart Van Beet who both claim they were "shocked" when they saw Light of Motiram, with Van Beet writing: "Tencent’s promotional material presents a visual setting almost identical to SIE’s Horizon promotional material."
"After spending over a decade creating and developing the Horizon franchise, it was disappointing to see our work copied to such a significant extent," he wrote. "Instead of spending the years and money that we invested into creating the Horizon world, Light of Motiram simply copied it, sidestepping the investment we made — and significant risk we took — in developing Horizon."
He continued: "There is an even greater risk of harm to the Horizon franchise if Light of Motiram, once released, does not have the same high quality as the Horizon games. The confusion caused by Light of Motiram promotions has already interfered with our existing Horizon development strategy, as there is a risk that future expansion could be incorrectly interpreted as copying Light of Motiram."
Van Tol wrote: "I have reviewed the music and sounds in Light of Motiram's promotional materials. I found striking similarities between their promotional trailer and the Horizon music. Light of Motiram's promotional materials contain the same core features of the Horizon sound, including the pillars, instrumentation, intimacy of the lead female voice, melodic composition, and rhythm, creating a similar overall feel."
The case continues.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
While 2023's The Flash marked what will probably be the final time Michael Keaton dons the Batsuit, the world of Tim Burton's Batman movies lives on in other media. Not only has DC Comics published two sequels in the form of Batman '89 and Batman '89: Echoes, Penguin Random House is also expanding this universe through a series of novels by John Jackson Miller. The second of those, Batman: Revolution, is nearing release, and IGN has an exclusive excerpt.
For those not up to date on the steadily growing Tim Burton Batman universe, Revolution is set between the events of 1989's Batman and 1992's Batman Returns. It introduces the Burton-verse version of Riddler, a character who previously cameoed in 2024's Batman: Resurrection.
Before we get to the excerpt, PRH also provided IGN with a "Riddle Me This" puzzle featured in the book. In the Burton-verse, Riddler is actually Norman Pinkus, a newspaper copy editor whose prodigious mind is responsible for this popular word puzzle game. Check it out below and see if you can deduce any clues for what's to come in Batman: Revolution:
"Our Riddler is responsible for the famous Gotham Globe feature, 'Riddle Me This' — and we actually include in the book one of his daily puzzles," Miller tells IGN. "The answer to this one actually connects to another of the book's mysteries. Or as he might put it: 'Here, before and after, heroes would convene — but Gotham City's perils lurked in between.' Solve this mystery and many more October 21!”
Now for the excerpt, which showcases a day in the life of Norman Pinkus. At this early stage in the novel, Pinkus seemingly hasn't become the anti-establishment revolutionary figure known as The Riddler, but his keen intellect is already on full display.
Batman: Revolution hits bookstores on October 21. You can preorder a copy below:
Much like the thought of becoming an actual vampire, there are some things I really like about Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and some I really don't care for. Developer The Chinese Room has undeniably done a remarkable job breaking out of its typically slow-paced and linear realm to give us a streetlight-soaked, open world Seattle that's enjoyable to explore, with a side of positively exquisite writing and voice acting. But combat never rises much above the level of being merely pretty good, and a lack of payoff for both mechanical and story choices hold this nocturnal sojourn back from greatness.
The slice of Seattle that serves as a hub for Bloodlines 2's searching, stalking, and politicking is impressive to behold, though don't expect GTA scale here. At around five by five blocks with most buildings climbable and rooftops fully navigable, there’s quite a bit more room to prowl than in Bloodlines 1's Santa Monica, with several distinct and memorable areas from the charming Pioneer Square to the lantern-lit Chinatown. Moving around it by clamoring, leaping, and gliding is some of the most fun I had.
This is also where your semi-customizable elder, Phyre, will hunt their prey, in the form of hapless humans who can be provoked, scared, or seduced depending on your hunting style. I appreciate that feeding is a major, unavoidable part of the nightly routine, but I think it could have been done better in a couple ways. For one, you only need to feed to recharge your combat powers. In the tabletop game, you get thirsty upon waking up every night, and in Bloodlines 1, your blood pool would steadily drop over time. I don't think this needs to be a hardcore survival game, but something like that would have helped sell that vampires need blood like we need food and water, adding a sense of desperation, because right now it’s just something you need to top up before going into battle. For another, there just isn't enough variety in the NPC models and voices to keep me fooled across the 30-plus hours my first playthrough took. I probably fed on one specific woman wearing the same exact hat at least a couple dozen times.
You are required to maintain the Masquerade while at street level, meaning no using your powers or feeding in front of normies, which is appropriate. You can't have a Vampire: The Masquerade game without, well, the Masquerade. But I did find it was a bit too easy to shake off any suspicion if I messed up.
Bloodlines 2 can feel like a generic vampire game rather than a Vampire: The Masquerade game.
The key component of Vampire: The Masquerade lore that is almost completely missing (outside of one cutscene that happens no matter what you do) is The Beast, the dark and ravenous voice inside each vampire that drives them to do terrible things and can provoke an uncontrollable state called Frenzy. The absolute best mechanic in the 5th Edition of the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game, upon which Bloodines 2 is based, is an increasing hunger track that makes your character more likely to behave in a monstrous or unpredictable manner the longer they've gone without feeding. I get that people don't usually like losing control of their character. But this is so crucial to the vampire fantasy that its absence is an almost fatal flaw. It's the one choice that really consistently made me feel like I was playing some generic vampire game, not a Vampire: The Masquerade game.
At least the combat is challenging, pulse-pounding, and overall pretty decent. It can get a little disorienting, and I really wish there was more of a "hard" lock-on ability given it's all in third-person and both you and your opponents are constantly zipping around at high speeds. But there are some exciting nuances to master like the various kicks, parries, and telekinetic grabs. At least for a melee build, it could be really exhilarating once I got the hang of it.
Stealth is satisfying and rewarding as well, though it's limited in certain segments like boss fights in a way that can come across as punishing you for deciding to focus on it. Some of the more esoteric fighting styles like Tremere Blood Sorcery are absolutely sick nasty amazing the first few times you pull them off – boiling someone's blood from the inside is every bit as bombastically brutal as you'd imagine – but can come to seem like more of a gimmick than a playstyle after a while. Overall, though, the frantic and action-packed sequences that combined my abilities to use the environment, my movement powers, and even my enemies against each other were some of the high points of Bloodlines 2.
Where it falls down the most, unfortunately, is as an RPG. You are playing as an elder vampire, so it's not exactly a typical zero-to-hero story. But just to give a representative example, the damage your melee attacks do at the very beginning is exactly the same as it will be in the final boss fight. You awaken new powers called Disciplines, like being able to turn invisible or smooch an enemy to turn them to your side, but you'll get all of them for your chosen clan within the first eight hours or so, after which point anything else is mostly a sidegrade. You can upgrade your health track by finding hidden symbols painted in blood across Seattle, but overall there isn't much of a sense of power progression throughout most of the campaign.
The action-packed sequences that combined my abilities were high points.
This is further limited by the fact that you can only equip four Disciplines at a time, and only one from each category – so, for example, you can't mix and match two different clans' movement abilities to create your own hyper-mobile playstyle. I don't see the wisdom in these restrictions at all. I also don't really enjoy that each Discipline can only be used once in battle before having to feed again, since they each have their own separate pool of power points, instead of having them draw from a common pool of stored blood that I could spend however I like. Sometimes restrictions are good. I just don't think any of these ones are. I'm a dang vampire. Just let me do what I want.
I did really appreciate the options Phyre has for visual customization. Each clan has four different outfits to unlock from the punk rock streetwear of the Brujah to the sharp business attire of the Ventrue. NPCs will actually react differently to you based on what you're wearing, such as being easier to seduce if you show a little more skin. That is honestly amazing. But what we're missing is a weapon slot, and that is definitely not amazing. I get that Phyre is an elder and a living weapon herself. She can telekinetically use a gun as a sort of one-off combat consumable, or throw a fire extinguisher across the room. But melee is always a hand-to-hand affair. And again, this is just cramping my style from a character customization angle. Do I need weapons to kill these chumps? Nah. But a vampire with a trenchcoat and dual pistols or a sweet-ass katana is just too cool and iconic to not allow in your vampire RPG. It's part of character creation and self-expression in the tabletop game. What are we doing here?
The story about solving a series of dramatic murders and navigating court politics is overall extremely well-written and voiced by a fantastic cast, from the sarcastic Nosferatu Tolly to the self-indulgent queen of seattle herself, Lou Graham. It's so good, in fact, that for the last few hours, I was ready to throw the windows open and start yelling into the night that everyone needed to experience this.
But then it absolutely broke my cold, dead heart. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers here, but you can skip ahead to the verdict if you're really sensitive to that kind of thing.
Basically, every interesting decision I made throughout the entire chronicle was unceremoniously chewed up and spit onto the pavement before being crushed under the uncaring bootheel of anticlimax. All of the machinations I had put into motion, the allies I had made, the chess pieces I had manipulated, all of the awesome vampire elder shit I had been vibrating about in the magnificently inspired lead up to the finale… were resolved in a 30-second epilogue voice-over that completely denied me the real showdown I had been dreaming of all this time. I was devastated. This might be worse than the original ending of Mass Effect 3. It's like they ripped out the last chapter of the book and burned it.
There's also the fact that you play maybe about a third of the story through the eyes of the Malkavian film noir detective Fabien, who somehow ended up in Phyre's head. And I love Fabien. I really do. He made me cry at one point. His segments are just as skillfully penned, and give you an interesting look into the history of Seattle. But his mind-altering Malkavian powers, like getting someone to recognize you as a different person or reading their surface thoughts? Cool idea, but every time you are allowed to use them, it is for a railroaded story beat. There is never a point at which they can be combined or deployed in a clever way that would make me feel like I solved the case, which is another huge wasted opportunity.
At the end of the night, this is a story that seems almost annoyed by the fact that it has to offer you any kind of choice at all.
George Lucas has said he’s let go of his instinct to manage Star Wars, 13 years after selling the sci-fi universe to Disney.
Lucas, now 81, sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion back in 2012, handing over everything from Industrial Light & Magic to Skywalker Sound as part of the deal. Since then, Disney has released the Sequel Trilogy and a number of TV shows set in the Star Wars universe, including The Mandalorian, Andor, and Ahsoka.
Now, he’s opening a museum he’s spent nearly $1 billion putting together. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is set to open in Los Angeles in 2026 and showcase a collection Lucas has been working on for 60 years.
It’s a departure from his filmmaking roots, and, based on a profile piece in The Wall Street Journal, Lucas is keen for it not to be dubbed 'the Star Wars museum.'
While it does have the likes of the N-1 Starfighter that debuted in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, only one inaugural exhibit will feature the designs of Star Wars vehicles. “It’s one gallery out of 33. And I did it grudgingly,” Lucas said. “I didn’t want people to come to the museum and say, ‘Where’s the Star Wars?’ ”
The Wall Street Journal then asked Lucas if he has let go of his instinct to manage the Star Wars universe now, 13 years after selling up.
“Disney took it over and they gave it their vision. That’s what happens,” he replied. “Of course I’ve moved past it. I mean, I’ve got a life. I’m building a museum. A museum is harder than making movies.”
So, it sounds like Lucas has indeed moved on from Star Wars. But fans often lament Disney’s stewardship of the franchise since buying Lucas out. Certainly Star Wars has had its ups and downs since Disney took over. Standalone movies Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, for example, were costly failures. 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker sparked a backlash from fans and we haven’t seen a new Star Wars movie since.
On the TV show side of things, while the likes of The Mandalorian and Andor enjoyed critical acclaim, The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte, and Obi-Wan Kenobi look to be one and done. Still, Lucasfilm is soldiering on, with new Star Wars movies and TV shows coming from next year.
Last year, Lucas suggested Star Wars’ new bosses got a lot wrong with the Sequel Trilogy. “I was the one who really knew what Star Wars was,” he said, “... who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force. When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.”
Deadline reported that Kennedy was working with Disney boss Bob Iger on a succession plan 13 years into the job, with Star Wars Rebels creator and current Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni apparently in a “strong position” to take on the role. However, she insisted: “The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring.”
"I will never retire from movies," she continued. "I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring."
While Kennedy confirmed that Lucasfilm has “every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road” on an eventual succession, she is “continuing to stay at Lucasfilm.” That involves producing the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu movie and Star Wars: Starfighter.
It sounds like plans are very much in the works for Kennedy to step down from her current role as president of Lucasfilm, but that doesn’t mean she is leaving the company behind or retiring from the movie business.
“I’m not going to be here forever,” she said. “George [Lucas] asked me 13 years ago to step in, and now I’m looking at who’s going to replace me. And as I said, we have a bench of people internally to handle the business, the creative side. The job has grown also since I stepped in. There was no streaming, there weren’t a lot of the things that we’re involved in right now going on. So it has grown.”
Kennedy also denied she was being “pushed aside” or “in need of being replaced,” insisting that was “absolutely not the case” and “could not be further from the truth.”
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The owner of a high-profile social media account dedicated to sharing Pokémon leaks has boasted of having numerous images removed by The Pokémon Company today in response to copyright claims — something they say only proves the leaked details are legitimate.
Copyright removals have now hit a long list of posts by CentroLeaks, an X account that this week shared dozens of images said to originate from the infamous Pokémon "Teraleak" of data, originally hacked from the servers of developer Game Freak last year.
"Funnily enough they took the bait," CentroLeaks posted this morning, stating that The Pokémon Company was behind the removal of numerous images that appeared to detail upcoming projects, including next year's unannounced but highly-anticipated "Gen 10" Switch 2 games.
"Mr. Takato Utsunomiya, the Chief Operating Officer of The Pokémon Company, has personally sent an email to Centro Leaks / X to take down the Pokémon leak images," another post by the account stated, later sharing what appeared to be a formal demand for a long list of posts to be removed as they contained "copyrighted works (illustrations) of the characters from the Pokémon video game series... reproduced and distributed to the public without our permission."
Details of a further set of Mega Pokémon coming in Legends Z-A's $20 DLC are among the images that have been removed, the account noted. "I guess Game Freak also confirmed the returning Pokémon list in the Legends: Z-A DLC is real," CentroLeaks said.
Other removed images included concept art and early screenshots purported to show various upcoming Pokémon projects, including the Gen 10 games, a third Pokémon Legends title, and an ambitious sounding concept for a Pokémon game spanning multiple regions.
Attention to CentroLeaks' account has been so widespread that fan art has already started to spring up of Pokémon species shown in the leaked art, likely years before any official reveal.
However, as IGN has stated previously, it is worth treating all of the details leaked online this week with a measure of caution, amid claims that some logos were in fact fan-made, and a general acknowledgement that all of the information is now a year out of date at the very least. Game Freak's servers were breached in August 2024, and The Pokémon Company's plans may have since changed, with specific concepts or indeed entire projects potentially scrapped altogether.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have previously attempted to track down the culprit behind the original Teraleak, though seemingly have not had much success, judging by the huge spread of further details online this week. As for CentroLeaks, the account's owner does not seem particularly concerned by either company, despite their infamously litgious nature.
At the time of writing, the most recent update on the CentroLeaks account is a retweet of a previous post from 2024, which simply states: "if only he knew that laws don't exist in Peru."
A five-part deep dive into one of our greatest living filmmakers, Mr. Scorsese is practically a semester of film school. Its subject, Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese, may as well be the series’ co-author; in Scorsese’s own words, “cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame,” and the documentary’s essayistic use of footage emanates from his rapid-fire recollections. The series flies out the gate with rabid energy, and while it eventually settles into something more traditional, it stands as a complete and coherent chronicle of one of Hollywood’s defining voices, in all his strengths and follies.
Helmed by The Ballad of Jack and Rose director Rebecca Miller, the show consists of five episodes, each about an hour in length, and each focusing on a specific era in Scorsese’s life and career. What’s more, unlike many modern docu-series that simply play like lengthy features, Mr. Scorsese is truly episodic in a way that not only makes each chapter satisfying, but provides hints of allure and excitement before the credits roll, enough to make you want to keep watching. These “cliffhangers” range from career highlights like Scorsese’s first meeting with Robert De Niro — his long-time friend and collaborator, with whom he first worked on Mean Streets — to moments of personal tumult, like the filmmaker’s late ‘70s drug addiction, which landed him in the hospital, and led to him bouncing back with the sports drama Raging Bull. No matter the nature of the story being told, the narrative always pivots around what movie Scorsese was making at the time, and why his images took the shape they did, or why he pulled from such specific sources of popular music, like The Rolling Stones.
The scene-to-scene structure is simple at the outset, with interview talking heads recounting Scorsese’s work, their encounters with him, and the nature of their collaboration. New filmmakers who admire him show as well — latter episodes frequently feature Ari Aster (Eddington) and Benny Safdie (The Smashing Machine) — but the real meat of the story comes courtesy of the people who knew Scorsese growing up, or during his early career — or at the very least, had similar upbringings. Goodfellas author and co-screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi is a key highlight, both for his insight into the criminal underworld that often influenced Scorsese, and for his own quips and anecdotes about the mafia.
Miller finds the deeply flawed, deeply human core at each stage of the filmmaker’s career, between the loved ones he ignored in pursuit of his passion and the blinders he would occasionally wear when directing women.
Scorsese’s origins, from his immigrant family to his asthmatic childhood on the peripheries of the mob, make for fascinating insights into the director’s creative DNA. This is especially true when Miller and editor David Bartner parallel his stories with either footage of older classics that influenced Scorsese, or with recurring shots and themes from his work — like his numerous overhead, birds-eye-view establishing shots, which appear as the director recounts watching his neighborhood peers play from his bedroom window — firmly rooting his films in his experience.
As his career progresses, through films of violent obsession like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, a more political portrait fades into view. Along the way, Scorsese and his collaborators (like screenwriter Paul Schrader and editor Thelma Schoonmaker) are forced to confront a changing American landscape, and reckon with the inevitable criticisms their work would attract. The backlash to Scorsese’s inquiry into the human condition would come to a head during The Last Temptation of Christ, which even saw a theater in Paris being bombed.
Religion and human nature have long been of interest to Scorsese, and although the series picks apart how thoroughly he’s approached these themes, Mr. Scorsese isn’t a mere hagiography. Its subject has no doubt achieved mythical status in the modern movie landscape, but in keeping with Scorsese’s own approach to all things holy, Miller finds the deeply flawed, deeply human core at each stage of the filmmaker’s career, between the loved ones he ignored in pursuit of his passion and the blinders he would occasionally wear when directing women (an anecdote from Casino star Sharon Stone proves particularly cathartic).
It's an honest portrait of a man who’s lived a more interesting life than most audiences realize, and whose work has proved utterly fascinating throughout the decades. Some of the most fun and breezy moments come courtesy of New Hollywood peers like Brian DePalma and Steven Spielberg, and collaborators like Daniel Day-Lewis (Miller’s husband, who amusingly insists on calling the director “Martin” when everyone else refers to him as “Marty,” including his own parents). Other intimate recollections involve the kind of childhood stories from lifelong friends seldom found on DVD commentaries, and feel like a casual hangout, though they’re no less revelatory.
Miller, whose voice can be heard at times, asks questions that nudge her subjects into uncomfortable territory, about past tensions with Scorsese and where his own outbursts might have emanated from. Luckily, Scorsese himself doesn’t seem perturbed by these topics. He readily accepts that Miller’s project is, and ought to be, a broad, encompassing study, and the show is all the better for it.
The fear that Stranger Things might tank its reputation with a dodgy finale was a concern for the show's cast, star Finn Wolfhard has admitted, after seeing Game of Thrones' final season brutally "torn to shreds."
Speaking to Time, Wolfhard mentioned the widespread reaction to Game of Thrones' final episodes as an example of how a long-running big-budget TV series can build up enormous expectations for its hotly anticipated climax — then spark enormous backlash after failing to deliver.
Negative reaction to Game of Thrones' final season still dominates discussion around the show, following widespread criticism of its plot, pacing and sudden character developments. Many fans blamed the uneven final season on the series' creators running out of book material to adapt, while others have suggested the series simply tried to do too much in too few episodes. Regardless, it has become a model that other series, clearly, do not want to follow.
"I think everyone was pretty worried, honestly," Wolfhard said. "The way that Game of Thrones got torn to shreds in that final season, we're all walking into this going, 'We hope to not have that kind of thing happen.'"
Not that Wolfhard is suggesting Stranger Things will wrap up its own run with a similarly polarizing finale — far from it.
"Then we read the scripts," Wolfhard continued, saying that the show's cast now felt reassured. "We knew that it was something special."
Stranger Things' fifth and final season will launch on Netflix with four episodes on November 26, before a further three episodes arrive on Christmas Day, December 25. The series' feature-length finale will then release on New Year's Eve, December 31, wrapping up the show's supernatural saga after almost a decade. No pressure.
After all that, will this really be the end of Stranger Things? Of course not. Netflix already has plans for animated series and at least one spinoff.
The developers of Battlefield 6 have reversed course on controversial changes to Conquest mode after a backlash from players.
Battlefield Studios had reduced ticket sizes for the large-scale Conquest multiplayer game mode to ensure matches “finish at a more natural pace.” To achieve this, Battlefield Studios reduced ticket sizes – which essentially represent each team's available reinforcements – from 1,000 tickets to a unique ticket goal for each map.
“We've heard your feedback about the recent reduction of Conquest starting tickets and will be reverting the ticket count across all maps to their original launch value of 1,000 and 45 minute timed rounds,” the developer said in a message to its community.
“Please note that on larger maps such as Mirak Valley and Firestorm this change may lead to longer match durations.
“We'll continue monitoring player feedback and gameplay data to ensure the pacing and overall flow of matches feel right.”
Battlefield Studios has been active in the community since Battlefield 6’s record-breaking launch, issuing a number of statements addressing various complaints and promising changes. Indeed, today, the developer has addressed complaints around the pace of progression, increasing XP gain and promising to target XP farms.
Meanwhile, Battlefield Studios said more updates are coming within the next week, maybe even sooner. It’s looking at visibility, weapon bloom, vehicles not spawning, and more.
“This is just the start,” it said. “As we prepare to go into Season 1 you can expect more adjustments as we continue fine-tuning gameplay, progression, and the experience based on your input. Thank you for being part of this community and we’ll see you out there on the Battlefield.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Battlefield 6 developer Battlefield Studios has addressed XP and progression complaints by outlining plans for a number of key changes to the game.
In an update to players, the developer said it was aware of the concerns on progression and “community experiences” that have bubbled up in the week since Battlefield 6’s explosive launch.
“We’ve heard your feedback around the pace of progression, especially how long it can take to unlock hardware such as gadgets, and weapon attachments,” Battlefield Studios said.
“We know progression is an important part of feeling rewarded for your time on the battlefield. As initial steps, we are working on the following changes to progression and how it feels as you play:
The XP gained from match completion and the daily bonus are being increased by 10% and 40% respectively.
The XP needed to unlock the first 20 attachment ranks is being reduced, so you’ll start earning useful attachments almost twice as fast.
Please Note: For weapons that are already being progressed, the UI might display something abnormal at first, but this should resolve itself once a match is played while using that weapon.
The assignments that required career ranks 20, 23, and 26 to begin will now require career ranks 10, 15, and 20, respectively.
While this allows these assignments to be started sooner, we are aware of the frustrations regarding the challenges themselves and are actively working on reviewing them, but it will take more time to develop, test, and implement these changes.
Battlefield Studios said its goal is to make the progression experience “feel smoother and more rewarding while still keeping that sense of achievement when you complete a milestone like fully mastering a weapon.”
“Over the past week, many of you noticed that we reached maximum capacity on community servers,” Battlefield Studios said. “After reviewing the data, we found that a large number of these servers were created primarily to earn XP, inflate player stats, and earn special accolades through defeating bots. We completely understand the motivation behind this, like faster progression and a way to test setups without pressure, but it’s led to some unintended side effects. With so many servers focused on farming XP rather than active play, it’s become noticeably harder for players to create and find experiences to play with other people.
“The Experiences in the Community section is a key part of what makes Battlefield 6 special. It’s meant to be a space for creativity, experimentation, and connection, where you can easily find and enjoy great modes with your friends and squadmates. Our goal moving forward here is to reinforce the player-driven experiences that bring people together, while still keeping room for custom setups, creativity, and new ideas.
“We are developing adjustments that are intended to diminish the number of XP farms taking up server space while further emphasizing playing with friends on both custom and verified experiences. Implementing this will require some maintenance on the backend. After the update is live, we expect all experiences, both custom and verified, will need to be republished by players before they can create an active server."
Meanwhile, Battlefield Studios said more updates are coming within the next week, maybe even sooner. It’s looking at visibility, weapon bloom, vehicles not spawning, and more.
“This is just the start,” it said. “As we prepare to go into Season 1 you can expect more adjustments as we continue fine-tuning gameplay, progression, and the experience based on your input. Thank you for being part of this community and we’ll see you out there on the Battlefield.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
A little over a year since Konami relaunched its long-dead Silent Hill horror series with the superb Silent Hill 2 Remake, the publisher has provided a sales update, confirming that it's now up to 2.5 million worldwide.
The updated milestone now means the 26-year-old series itself has surpassed 10 million units shipped, despite lying dormant for over a decade.
As reported by Gematsu, the news came via a Konami News video report which primarily discussed its most recent release, Silent Hill f, which similarly debuted to a positive reception last month. At the beginning of the report, a text pop up says: "Silent Hill series has shipped over 10 million copies, and [Silent Hill f's] predecessor, Silent Hill 2, has shipped over 2.5 million copies."
Silent Hill 2 is a remake of the 2001 psychological horror game wherein you play as protagonist James Sunderland drawn to the terrifying titular town after receiving a mysterious letter from his late wife, Mary. IGN's Silent Hill 2 Remake review returned an 8/10 score, and dubbed it "a welcome modernisation of a survival horror masterpiece." Silent Hill f returned 7/10, where we called it "a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel," but warned "its melee-focussed combat takes a big swing that doesn’t quite land."
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Former Assassin's Creed boss Marc-Alexis Côté has made clear that his shock exit from Ubisoft was not his decision.
In a post on LinkedIn, Côté said he bore "no resentment," but wanted to make clear to former colleagues and fans that he had not quit the Assassin's Creed franchise after 15 years of his own free will.
Côté's departure, announced earlier this week, came as a surprise following the successful launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, one of a list of games Côté previously helped announce as part of a big new era for the franchise.
IGN previously reported that Côté was offered, but declined, another role within Vantage Studios' leadership, something Côté's new statement also mentions.
"Many of you have expressed surprise that I would choose to leave Assassin’s Creed after so many years, especially given the passion I still hold for it," Côté wrote last night. "The truth is simple: I did not make that choice.
"Ubisoft decided to transfer the leadership of the Assassin’s Creed franchise to someone closer to its new organizational structure. A different position was mentioned, but it did not carry the same scope, mandate, or continuity with the work I had been entrusted with in recent years.
"I want to be clear that I hold no resentment," Côté continued. "Ubisoft has been my home for all my professional life, and I will always be grateful for the people, the projects, and the belief that together we could create worlds that inspire millions. But I also owe it to my teams, past and present, to say this plainly: I did not walk away. I stayed at my post until Ubisoft asked me to step aside.
"As someone who grew up inspired by Star Trek (TNG!), in the later years of my career I came to see myself as the captain of the Assassin's Creed ship, someone who leaves only once every soul on board is safe. And that is exactly what I have done for as long as I could."
Côté joined Ubisoft in 2005 as a software engineer, and began working on Assassin's Creed series in time for Brotherhood. Subsequent projects saw Côté take on increasingly senior roles for Assassin's Creed 3, Black Flag DLC Freedom Cry, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and then Assassin's Creed Odyssey, for which he served as senior producer.
In March 2022, as Ubisoft sought to re-establish the series under a more singular vision, Côté stepped up to lead overall development. It was Côté who laid out plans for a string of Assassin's Creed projects (including Shadows, the upcoming witchcraft-focused Assassin's Creed Hexe and a fresh multiplayer project), and Côté who spoke out last December to defend the series and its developers amid a firestorm of discourse surrounding Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Ubisoft is expected to hire a new Assassin's Creed franchise boss in the coming months, ahead of a busy 2026 filled with further additions to Shadows, and the highly-anticipated reveal of a Black Flag remake.
Image credit: Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
If you've been anywhere on the internet this week, Pokémon Legends: Z-A leaks were probably hard to avoid — particularly Mega Starmie and its bizarrely humanoid legs.
Warning! Spoilers for Pokémon Legends: Z-A follow:
With Pokémon Legends: Z-A now released and more players encountering Mega Starmie for themselves, the reaction to this odd-looking new Mega Evolution is only growing. Most Mega Evolutions add some new element to a Pokémon's design, be it Mega Dragonite's extra set of wings, or Mega Meganium's blossom-like collar.
But for Starmie — essentially a starfish with a jewel in the center — its two legs are now just... a little bit longer, allowing it to run around in a rather odd, bipedal fashion.
Is it because Mega Starmie's two legs just look oddly stretched out? Is it because it now looks slightly more human-like, though still missing any form of head? It's hard to say exactly why Mega Starmie looks so weird, though there's a wide consensus among Pokémon fans that the design is one of the franchise's goofiest in some time.
Comparisons have been made between Earthbound villain Starman, DC Comics alien Starro, and Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants, with fan art now showing Mega Starmie's legs dressed up in fishnet stockings.
There's plenty of love, too, for the way Mega Starmie now scuttles around on those two legs, changing its movement from a more graceful roll to something out of a Saturday morning cartoon.
"Its movements have become more humanlike," reads the creature's new Pokédex entry. "Whether it's simply trying to communicate or wants to supplant humanity is unclear." If it is trying to communicate, it's so far unclear what Mega Starmie might be trying to say. And also, what was that about supplanting humanity?
Marvel Rivals' first ever PvE mode drops on October 23, 2025, and it's based on the Marvel Zombies Disney+ TV show.
"The city's burning, the infected are rising — and it's up to you to hold the line," the team teased. "Get a sneak peek now, and stay tuned for the official trailer coming soon!"
In the video, below, Marvel Studios' head of streaming, television, and animation Brad Winderbaum sat down with Marvel Games' executive producer Danny Koo to explain that Marvel Rivals is teaming up with Marvel Animation "to bring you our first-ever PvE mode: Zombie Mode."
In this Marvel Zombies-inspired mode, you'll get to play as Thor, Blade, Magik, Jeff, and the Punisher, taking on "endless waves of zombies." You'll have to survive the horde and go "toe-to-toe" with bosses Zombie Namor and the Queen of the Dead.
"We've also given each hero some unique abilities," Koo explained. "Charge through the hordes as Jeff, slice and dice with Blade's bouncing Moon Blades, shock zombies with Thor in his persistent Awakened state, or go berserk as Magik in her unlimited Darkchild form. Showcase your epic combat skills against the zombie swarms and tough bosses!"
The mode rolls out just in time for the spooky season on October 23, on PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.
Marvel Zombies, meanwhile, recently made its debut on Disney+. IGN's Marvel Zombies full season review returned an 8/10. We said: "Marvel Zombies may be formulaic at times, but the series succeeds by giving us exactly what the MCU hasn’t in recent years."
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
With Pokémon Legends: Z-A releasing today for Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, excitement has been building among Pokémon fans on social media.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is taking us back to a revamped Lumiose City. Of course, you can catch Pokémon, battle them and do quests, but there’s also time for relaxing. One aspect of the game that some Japanese fans have been getting excited about is simply chilling with your Pokémon outside an in-game cafe.
YouTuber and blogger Koiwa Hawawa posted on Twitter / X: “What I’m most looking forward to in Z-A is having tea with Pokémon. But could it be that your Pokémon is just staring at the desserts? Is there anything more cruel?”
What Hawawa noticed is that while the trainer relaxes over a cuppa and cake, their Pokémon just sits on the other chair with nothing on the table in front of it. As evidence of possible Pokémon cruelty, Hawawa posted screenshots. The last image highlights Totodile, whose wide eyes and open mouth make him look like he is salivating at the thought of some sweet treats.
This post quickly attracted views (1.3 million at the time of this article's publication) and comments from other users, with many questioning whether or not Pokémon can eat sweets meant for humans without getting some serious indigestion. However, as many pointed out, Pokémon have a history of eating all sorts of things, even curry and sandwiches (in Generations VIII and IX respectively). One user even posted an image of Meowth and Rocket Team members stuffing themselves with ramen.
One thing fans were in agreement with was that the Pokémon should also be snacking on something alongside their trainer. “Whether it's a Poké Block, Poké Puff or Poffin, just give it something delicious,” one user implored. Another added: “The only food on the table is the protagonist’s, so for me that’s a bit of a negative.”
But maybe the Pokémon are content with just watching you eat? Discovered cafes in Legends: Z-A serve as fast travel points, and visiting them has several benefits. Firstly, sitting with a particular Pokémon strengthens your bond, which could be helpful for evolving them later on. Plus, buying drinks at a cafe restores your entire party’s health and removes status effects, so maybe your Totodile is sneaking a sip when you are not looking?
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
As players continue to deploy into Battlefield 6 multiplayer to try out its many maps, modes, and guns, they are finding a new enemy to fight: the sun.
The millions of players who have checked out EA and Battlefield Studios’ latest large-scale FPS in its first week since launch have been hit by lights so bright they feel like they are being “flash-banged." It’s an issue affecting every class from Engineers to Recon, especially when exiting a building or, even worse, aiming down sights (ADS) while looking outside from the inside of a structure.
Footage of the issues plaguing Battlefield 6 players is hard to ignore, and we here at IGN have experienced them, too. Simply walking around on outdoor maps rarely presents any issues, but the instant you try to leave a building, nearly the entire screen turns white from the sheer power of the sun. It’s the kind of thing that would be annoying for any game, much less a relatively competitive military shooter where every bullet counts.
It's unclear if bright lights in Battlefield 6 affect more players on PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox, or if the issue is present across all versions of the game. While few have tried to argue the bright light adjustment effects are realistic and should stay, the vast majority of players seem to disagree.
“I got people sledge hammering drones riding up to the sky hitting 500m shots but my operator forgot sun protective glasses? The harshness and lighting imbalance from indoors to out is horrific,” content creator and 100 Thieves founder Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag said in a post. “This realism argument is out of control. BF6 is great but a lot needs to be fixed.”
“Yeah, I imagine they’re going to have to improve it at some point,” another Reddit user added. “Looking out of a window is like getting flash banged and looking into a building is like suddenly going blind.”
Thankfully, DICE’s principal game designer for Battlefield, Florian Le BiHan, said in an X/Twitter post that BF Studios is “working on a set of improvements” that should address the harsh lighting effects in Battlefield 6. More information for fixes in this regard are said to arrive “in the near future.”
Until an official fix arrives, players are left to fend for themselves as Battlefield 6’s sun launches its attacks anytime they leave a building, which, of course, is quite often. In the meantime, some believe they’ve found a Band-Aid solution that might make ADS more manageable – no sunglasses required.
Battlefield 6 sun glare tip:
If you are experiencing the awful glare from the sky and looking out at the distance from inside a building. Turning on HDR on my monitor and in windows (HDR 1000 to be exact) completely eliminated all glare.
It appears there’s no one-size-fits-all fix, but some players recommend toggling HDR on or off depending on your monitor of choice. There’s also a World Brightness setting in-game, set at 50 by default, which can be tweaked. Here’s your warning, though, that turning this notch down too far may have the opposite effect, leaving a player with environments that are too dark. Others report altering other graphics settings, such as Performance Preset modes on consoles, has helped, too.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
In an impassioned end to his keynote address on the opening day of Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show in Bangkok, Dead Space creator and industry veteran Glen Schofield has declared that the games industry is in dire need of fixing, and he believes he knows just how to go about it.
“We need to fix the gaming industry right now,” said Schofield to a room of games industry professionals. “It's broken. It's beaten, it's battered, our developers are battered, they've been taking it on the chin for the last couple of years. We need to bring it back to what it was, right? Instead of all this negativity.”
The first and arguably most controversial step to take in Schofield’s opinion, is for the games industry to widely embrace the use of generative AI as a standard part of their development tool set.
“AI isn’t here to replace us,” continued Schofield. “It’s here to make us faster, better, and more efficient. And AI is for all of us, it really is. It’s not just for directors and artists, it’s for writers and marketing execs.
“So, I think [games industry] executives, owners, founders… Let's start training our people on AI. Start it as soon as you can. Who cares if I’m EA or Activision or Namco or whatever, we should be working together at least in training and training our people up. That would be a huge help because I know we’re going to start hiring people back again.”
Next up, Schofield believes that investors need to loosen their purse strings and start spending more on games development, as well as putting the right people in charge of each studio.
“Come on, investors and execs, let’s stop this madness,” said Schofield. “You want to make a AAA game for like eight million dollars? You gotta get your guts back again. If we start putting money into the industry again, we know it's going to make money.”
“To me, you picked the wrong people to run the teams, to run the games, right? In my opinion [you need] a big, creative person who’s running it. And then you put people around to help with this and that. That's the way I work these days, right? I still run my studio in ways but I have people to help now so I can be 100% or 98% on that. That’s what these games need. I saw some of the people that were chosen and they were really good people, but there's no way they were ready to direct a game.”
“So I said, let's start putting money in, do due diligence a little better on that. We know we're going to make money. But we have to make quality games, and you have to give them to the right people.”
Lastly, and perhaps most strangely given that he was presenting the opening keynote address at a rival games industry show, Schofield wished for the return of E3.
“Bring back E3,” said Schofield to soft applause. “I mean, come on. E3 is the granddaddy of them all. And I will tell you every single E3 that I went to made my games better. And I know there's no formula to show a [return on investment] on that, [but] every game got better when you went there. You talked with your friends, you talked with colleagues, everybody's thrilled to help you with the next technologies, or showing you mechanics. When the companies started going outside of E3 I knew this was the end, and I started boycotting those because [that] was not an industry that was working together, this is an industry that’s fragmented. And so now there’s no E3.”
Schofield concluded his address by reiterating that while he’s fully onboard with AI, the most important aspect of games development were the people making them, not the machines.
“Remember, ideas are the lifeblood of the industry,” said Schofield, speaking to the developers in attendance. “And those ideas? They come from you.”
How do you feel about Schofield’s plan to “fix” the games industry? Sound off in the comments below!
Tristan Ogilvie is a senior video editor at IGN's Australian office, currently attending Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show.
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